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IN THIS ISSUE

• Lyle Meers writes about a European river boat cruise
• We get letters from Charles King, Don Henderson, and Jean Sterling
• Betty Fehlhaber writes about her favourite authors
• Carol Dilworth sends URLs for favourite books and poems
• Bill McNair sends an article about winners of technology prizes
• The editor recalls some of her favourite books in her childhood
• Pat Moore recommends a startling site

Lyle Meeres begins an account of their 2009

RHINE-DANUBE RIVER CRUISE

Our usual flight to Europe goes overnight. Of course, the theory is that we sleep and the flight seems short, but since neither of us can sleep on a plane, the flight seems endless. This flight to Amsterdam was no exception in terms of sleep, but since the flight was in daylight, it seemed shorter. We arrived in Frankfurt for our short hop to Amsterdam early on September 5, and discovered that the worst part of the trip over was hurrying through Frankfurt Terminal B to get to our gate in Terminal A. We made it with a little time to spare.

In Amsterdam, we left the terminal for the line of cabs, and when we arrived at the front of the line, the waiting cab was a van: perfect for four people with quite a bit of luggage. The cab took us to our ship, the MV Casanova, for 45 Euros plus tip, which we thought could have been worse, and splitting the bill eased the pain.

Once sailors took the luggage, we walked to the Old Town and wandered. Eventually we chose a pub where we had an interesting lunch, each of us experimenting with a different beer. Everything was expensive, so typically we think of Euros as dollars, rather than converting them. I took some lousy pictures. A cyclist brushed me on the way back to the ship. Cars will stop for you; bikes simply see a target. We had learned that we are fair game if we are in a bike lane where "killer bikes" take their toll, but I was nowhere near a bike lane. Later, we heard stories of similar incidents from other walkers. Perhaps Amsterdam cyclists file notches on their handlebars and get over-eager to add tourists to their toll. People here generally spoke English and I could imagine what the cyclists said as they lined up another tourist. Non-cyclists were friendly and helpful.

We walked through a market which featured gorgeous and sometimes different flowers. Nearby there were tall, skinny urinals parked outdoors for male relief. This was more than a little startling, though I knew France has public bathroom facilities. Paulette asked me to go stand at one so she could take a picture. I did so but my bladder would be far too bashful to ever use one of these porcelain works of art. Unlike Clinton, I kept my zipper up.

Onboard we confirmed the notion that things are expensive: our two gin and tonics cost 12.60 Euros. The good news was the dinner, which was excellent. The bad news was that someone assigned a couch bed (for me) while Pat got a single bed. Our reservation was for a queen bed. I found the hotel manager and he said, "We´re fully booked. What can I do?" Being over-tired, which always makes me grumpy, I replied, "Get it right in the first place. We had to be among the first making reservations." Despite the two beds, we had a decent sleep.

Day 2 was Sunday, September 6. The buffet breakfast with such things as scrambled eggs, three- or five-minute boiled eggs, bacon or sausage, pastry, fruit, juice, and coffee was good. At 8:30 a tour bus took us to the Rijksmuseum. Our tour guide was dramatic and gave us a better appreciation of two or three artists, especially Rembrandt. I had always found Rembrandt dark and unappealing so the guide achieved a real turnaround for me. The usual tip for a guide is two Euros and one Euro goes to the bus driver. Fortunately we had taken some Euro change with us. Later we got change from the desk on the ship.

Next the bus took us to a flat-looking canal tour boat which had partly covered with glass or plastic as a roof and partly open to the air. The canals, such as Grachtengordel, a 17th c. ring of canals, appealed strongly to me. The canals often have character and sometimes have beauty from bridges, trees, and surrounding buildings. We were told that some buildings lean because the peat subsoil is unstable, at times to the point that rebar is placed through the building and split in two directions as it exits; at other times we saw metal or wood beams supporting the buildings while renovations were completed. Some buildings have to be abandoned as there is no way to make them safe.

Some canals have houseboats along the edge in expensive parking places. These houseboats vary from ugly, rusty hulks to attractive, freshly-painted homes covered in plants. The tall, narrow, deep houses that line the main canals are very expensive homes for the extremely wealthy. The mayor gets his own private mooring spot. We passed the Anne Frank house and I was glad I was not standing in the long, long line. Not many people can tour the house at a time so the wait would seem interminable.

We passed a cafe with an unusual sign. The place called itself a "coffee house," and the sign featured a palm tree. Technically, marijuana is illegal, but the palm tree resembles the leaves of a marijuana plant and it is understood that one could buy some grass here. Anything is legal unless the police are there. We saw the police in action, giving out parking tickets near our boat, so our bus driver carefully parked where it was legal - otherwise he would have let us out at the gangway.

We´ve seen lots of bikes before, in places such as Cambridge, but nothing like Amsterdam. One place we saw from the tour boat was a very large three-tiered parking lot for bicycles. One needed to remember what his or her bike looked like in that collection! We also saw plenty of scooters zinging along.

Our boat docked near the train station which borders on the red light district. The ladies kept me away from there, but others told us that the display windows are complete with sound effects. We also heard about the man who said he was too sick to go walking with his wife and friends, but when they returned a bit early from their walk, guess who they saw coming out of one of the red light apartments.... Our guide speculated that the marriage ended shortly after. The day was dull and cold but the stories were not.

Lunch was good - what else! I wasn´t going to buy into the afternoon tour because I had wanted to walk some of the canal areas, but our morning tour had shown me much of what I wanted to see, so I chose to take it. A small bus took us into the countryside, where we admired several absolutely gorgeous yards, some featuring mini-canals and small windmills (resembling our farm ones) to pump water. We saw several small herons on our way to a cheese factory ,where Pat bought a round of gouda for snacks with pre-dinner wine. Then we went for a walk through part of Edam which has some medieval features. To me, this was one of the best parts of this tour. There were many tidy brick houses side by side, sometimes with "stoops" where one could sit and chat with neighbours. We visited a church and heard its carillon and bells, and walked along a canal where some bigger houses had lovely yards.

Then we drove to the Zaanse Schans village, which is a museum along the lines of Fort Edmonton. This one had three windmills and we went into one which was working. There are not many millers anymore but this mill grinds a variety of products. My injured back and leg had been good until this walk, but I was relieved to get back on the bus.

Tom, our guide, said that he wouldn´t miss standing around holding a sign saying "Casanova" - I can imagine him getting some crude responses, but he meant that he didn´t expect to see the boat again as the bankrupt company will likely sell the ship. After the tour, the ship supplied bubbly as the Casanova left port. Pat and I both had poor nights.

To be continued.

CORRESPONDENCE

Charles King writes: It came as a complete surprise to find my nephew, Rob King (he prefers Robert), gracing your pages with his memories of the Winnipeg flood of 1997. Did I send it to you or did he submit it at my suggestion? I cannot remember sending it but it remains a good read, even 13 years later. [Charles forwarded it to me.]

Rob, or Robert, is the neon sign estimator he mentions among the ranks of the sandbag army. He also, equally importantly, has taken over recently from me as editor/publisher of King Chronicles, our family newsletter that goes out to about 75 members of our far-flung family on five continents, six Canadian provinces, and half a dozen American states. Not having the stamina or stick-to-itiveness of you or Jim Olson, I surrendered the editorship at the age of 83 after 15 years, and am now happily manning the phones at the local police centre as a volunteer, a less arduous task.

It is rewarding to receive the Spinner again after a period of not receiving it for some reason. In fact, you are so punctilious about welcoming me back as a reader that I now receive TWO copies each week! Thank you and continued good health!

Don Henderson quotes from the editorial last week: "For some time now I have been receiving letters from subscribers who say they are no longer receiving The Tale Spinner, requesting that they be put back on the list."

Your internet provider should have a menu to mark non-spam e-mails.

The readers who are not receiving The Tale Spinner should go into their programs and mark The Spinner as not spam.

Probably most of the people are on "Hotmail", which is garbage provided by Bell Telephone. Its filters are very poor, and most people don´t know how to set their filters correctly.

Keep us the great work; I enjoy it every week,

ED. NOTE: Unfortunately, all those missing issues are not with just one server, but with many others. The servers may all have the same policy, however.

Jean Sterling writes: I was sorry to read about Dick Monaghan being ill. I always looked forward to reading his stories. He had a great sense of humour and expressed himself so very well. I noticed that his daughter expressed herself well too - I think she might have inherited some of his gift with a keyboard.

I am pleased to see some contributions from Geoff [Goodship]. He´s right you know - digital cameras are great! No more worries about wasting film - it makes picture taking fun. It´s instant gratification - you can see the picture immediately and decide if it´s worth downloading. No more having to wait (and pay) for your pictures to be developed, and if you really like one you can have a print made.

I thought the seagull video was hilarious.

I haven´t been getting the mailed newsletter either, and it doesn´t appear to be in my spam folder. I just go to the website and read it there, and I get to see all the pictures in color.

We went down to the Florida Keys last week - thought we better get down there before the oil does. The people in the Keys are very concerned, as you might imagine.

Betty Fehlhaber sends this in reply to my request for personal favourites:

MY FAVOURITE AUTHORS

You asked for favourite books. Well, I can´t really say I have one favourite because I have a few that I re-read every now and again. However, I do have a favourite author - Ken Follett. His plots are well thought out as he weaves his stories, and his characters are very believable. It´s almost as if you are in the same room, so to speak, as he takes you on wonderful journeys, such that you are almost sad when the story ends; especially his historical novels. Another author I like is Dick Francis. Perhaps he is not so well known in Canada as he is another Brit. In general, I like the British mystery authors more than the American as they can tell a story without a lot of foul language and blazing guns.

FAVOURITE BOOKS

Carol Dilworth does not tell us what her favourite books are, but she sends these URLs for lists of favourites from The Guardian:

This one lists favourite children´s books, which is slanted toward English books, though it does contain other countries´ classics: http://arunaurl.com/3jhg

Simon Armitage and Tim Dee´s top 10 bird poems: http://arunaurl.com/3jil

And John Mullan´s choice of the ten best fogs described in books, beginning with Dickens´ "Bleak House": http://arunaurl.com/3jj0

In addition to the lists of favourites, Carol sends this: As the World Cup kicks off in South Africa we look at the literary state of play in the rainbow nation. We meet Deon Meyer, one of a growing band of crime writers who are taking to the international stage. We talk politics and the word with the poet and essayist Antjie Krog, boarding school comedy with the children´s writer John van de Ruit, and we find out how one young writer, Niq Mhlongo, is bringing the language of the townships into literature:

"13 Hours" by Deon Meyer

"Ways of Staying" by Kevin Bloom

"Begging to be Black" by Antjie Krog

"Spud" by John van de Ruit

"High Low In-Between" by Imraan Coovadia

"Dog Eat Dog" by Niq Mhlongo

"After Tears" Niq Mhlongo

"Ways of Dying" by Zakes Mda

"The Cry of Winnie Mandela" by Njabulo S Ndebele

Bill McNair quotes from a story about the winner of Finland´s

MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGY PRIZE

Professor Michael Gratzel of Switzerland developed the Gratzel cell, which mimics the way plants turn light into energy. It is a low-cost solar cell that could be used to build electricity-generating windows.

Explaining his inspiration, he said: "I was always intrigued by the way plants capture sunlight and turn it into fuels like sugar. Natural photosynthesis was the inspiration, and our solar cell is the only one that mimics the natural photosynthetic process."

Gratzel cells rely on nanotechnology to produce power from sunlight. "We are using nanocrystal films in which the particles are so small, they don´t scatter light," said Professor Gratzel. "You can imagine using those cells as electricity-producing windows. What´s very exciting is that you collect light from all sides, so can capture electricity from the inside as well as the outside."

Both the other shortlisted nominations for the prize were British inventors, each of whom won €150,000.

Professor Sir Richard Friend of the University of Cambridge invented organic Light Emitting Diodes, which Finland´s Technology Academy said was "a crucial milestone in plastic electronics".

"Electronic paper, cheap organic solar cells and illuminating wall paper are examples of the revolutionary future products his work has made possible," it said.

And Professor Stephen Furber of Manchester University is the principal designer of the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor, an innovation found in gadgets ranging from Apple´s iPhone to Microsoft´s Zune. The Academy said it "revolutionized mobile electronics".

It said: "The ingeniously-designed processor enabled the development of cheap, powerful, handheld, battery-operated devices".

FROM THE EDITOR´S DESK

The first book I remember being captivated by was "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, and I can still quote poems from it over 80 years later. I am dismayed to find that young people no longer read that inspired nonsense, and instead form their opinion of the book from the recently-released movie.

Other favourites of my childhood were an eclectic lot - mostly the books that I had access to. When we were in the logging camp we got library books from the Department of Education, and I remember Mother writing to them on one occasion to ask them to send less lively books because King Arthur and his knights were too hard on her boiler lids. Nell and I were whittling swords out of shakes and borrowing the lids for shields.

After moving to Salmon Arm, we made good use of the tiny library. I think I read every book in their none-too-large collection, and by the time I got to high school, I was deep into mythology - Greek, Roman, Norse, English. In fact, I read so much about King Arthur that I finally got tired of those tales, and I now avoid books about that mythical age, even those by Mary Stewart, whose mystery books are among my favourites.

I read most of Charles Dickens´ books; the Henty books - "With Clive in India", and others like that; Kipling´s "Kim" and the "Jungle Books" and "The Man Who Would Be King"; the Anne of Green Gables books by Lucy Montgomery"; Conan Doyle´s Sherlock Holmes mysteries; "Treasure Island" by Stevenson; "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain; the rags-to-riches stories of Horatio Alger.... As you can see, my tastes ranged over a wide variety of genres.

These are some of the books I remember from my early childhood into my early teens, and I find that many have lost their charm. I remember trying to reread "The Coral Island" by R. M. Ballantyne when I found it in the school library where I became librarian. I found I could not read it, because my tastes had changed over the years.

If no-one else volunteers their reading list, I will inflict my adult favourites on you - and that is a threat!

RECOMMENDED SITES

Pat Moore asks how the BP oil gusher would look in your town. To put the sheer size of the oil spill into perspective, this site has created a program to let you measure it against the land mass surrounding your home town. Click on the link, then enter your town, and province/state in the location box top of page, and ´move´ the oil spill. Scary!

Michael Shermer says the human tendency to believe strange things - from alien abductions to dowsing rods - boils down to two of the brain´s most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble:

This video of a dog playing tag with a baby is a winner:

In less than a week, the International Whaling Commission will hold its final vote on a proposal to legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in a generation. The outcome rests on whose voices are heard most clearly in the final hours: the pro-whaling lobby - or the world´s people? To vote against the possible legalization of killing whales, go to